Amazon warning over email scam as fraudsters target Prime members with threatening message

Amazon shoppers are being warned about an email scam doing the rounds in which fraudsters are making false claims about their subscriptions.

The email urges Amazon Prime members and loyalty customers to update their subscription or face it being "expired" because their monthly payment for Prime had "failed". The subscription for Prime is said to have expired on the exact date you receive an email, having tried to renew a subscription "at the end of each billing cycle".

In these fraudulent emails, you’re notified that it’s almost time to renew your Amazon Prime subscription — but your card is no longer valid. If you believe this bogus message, you could disclose your credit card number to scammers when you click on the renewal prompt, reports BirminghamLive.

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To tell it is a scam, Amazon warned Prime members about increased phishing attacks ahead of Prime Day. A common tactic around this time is for fraudsters to scare people into thinking their account is about to expire — and they could lose their Prime Membership benefits ahead of the big sales day.

Amazon says emails from a suspicious sender come with a "from" address which is fake. Customers are urged to take a screenshot of the email and report it to stop-spoofing@amazon.com.

The scam email may also contain a fraudulent PDF. But Amazon customers and Prime users, who have signed up to the loyalty scheme, are warned any attached file is likely to contain malware.

"Amazon won’t include attachments, so you should never open any attachments in an email that claims to be from Amazon," the tech giant has confirmed. Amazon users are also warned the email may not be verified on your Amazon account. You can see all official communications from Amazon in the “Messages” section of your account — including any emails Amazon sent to you.